After showing great promise as a 400m hurdler, Nicola Sanders was forced to focus on the flat 400m because of persistent back and hamstring injuries. The Commonwealth Games in Melbourne was her last major championships at the 400m hurdles, but having run sub-51 seconds indoors for 400m, the transition to the flat was always going to be smooth. Sanders won the AAA Championships in the summer of 2006 before finishing sixth against a strong field at the European Championships in Gothenburg, but the 26-year-old came to prominence in the 2007 campaign. Nicola had the fastest time in the world prior to the European Indoor Championships in Birmingham of 50.60 but it was clear that Sanders had the potential to run faster and in the final in Birmingham, the 50-second barrier narrowly eluded her, as she blasted to a British record of 50.02, which moved her to fifth on the all-time lists. The following day, Sanders was a part of the 4x400m team, which won a bronze medal in a British record of 3:28.69.

After a good indoor campaign, she was tipped to break Kathy Cook’s longstanding British outdoor record, but a persistent Achilles injury badly affected the early part of her summer campaign, forcing her to miss the European Cup. Prior to the World Championships in Osaka, it appeared as though Sanders was only a pale shadow of her former self, having only broken the 51-second barrier once prior to the championships. However, things finally began to gel at the holding camp in Macau and her early season injury problems proved to be a blessing in disguise, as she peaked to perfection. Overlooked prior to the World Championships as a medal contender, Sanders pulverised her lifetime best, lowering it from 50.68 to 49.77, which made her arguably the pre-race favourite. In the final, Sanders was off the pace in the first 200m and looked out of contention, but the European Indoor champion came into the reckoning in the final 100m, passing Jamaica’s Novlene Williams in the final stages to snatch the silver medal and inches behind Christine Ohuruogu in a lifetime best of 49.65. Adding to her growing medal tally, the 26-year-old ran a storming last leg to anchor the British team to the bronze medal in the 4x400m relay.

Much was expected of Sanders in 2008, but for the second consecutive year, injuries limited her racing schedule and clearly not fully fit, Nicola was eliminated in the semi-final stages of the 400m in Beijing, but ran a season's best of 50.71, followed by a sub-50 relay leg in the 4x400m relay final.

In 2009 injury interrupted her season yet again after an encouraging start to the season which included a rare excursion over 800m in April with a 2:03.41 clocking at the Mt Sac Relays. Disappointingly she finished in fourth place in her semi-final at the World Championships in Berlin and in the same position at the IAAF World Athletics Final but still finished the season with a useful 50.45 to her name.

Incredibly, 2010 followed much the same pattern with injury wrecking her year yet again and although managing to finish second at the Aviva European Trials & UK Championships she was way below her best and only qualified for the 4x400m relay squad at the European Championships where she took home a well deserved bronze medal. 2011 proved to be just as frustrating with injury holding her back and although she made the semi-final stage at the World Championships she will be hoping 2012 brings her back to where she belongs.